The order matters: I-94, SSN, phone, address — each one unlocks the next.
Your first 72 hours: the right order to do thingsEverything in the US chains off something else — the bank wants an address, the landlord wants credit, the SSN wants your immigration record. Doing things in the right order saves weeks.
Getting a state ID card (even if you don't drive)Carrying your passport everywhere is a bad idea. Every state's DMV issues a photo ID card to non-drivers — it becomes your everyday proof of identity and age.
Proof of address — the document everyone demandsThe DMV, the bank, the school district: all of them want proof you live where you say. Newcomers get stuck in a loop — no address proof without accounts, no accounts without address proof. Here's how to break it.